The Wave Generator Power Plant is related to offshore semi-submersible platforms used in the petroleum industry. The floating semi-submersible platforms are anchored to the sea floor with cables and their buoyancy supports the upper deck structure. They are widely used throughout the world for offshore applications. The Wave Generator Power Plant uses an anchored ring-pontoon, that is fully submerged and its buoyancy supports the above-water structure. Within the anchored ring-pontoon the moving buoyant cone-shaped pontoon reciprocates similarly to a ship at sea that is lifted and dropped with the action of the sea waves. The reciprocation is converted into rotary motion by a connecting rod and crankshaft, and this rotary power then drives an electrical generator. Sea wave energy is amassed with this buoyant prime mover and sixteen hundred (1600) horsepower can be developed to generate one (1) megawatt of electricity. The horsepower of this invention increases with an increase in the area and depth of the cone-shaped pontoon that is in contact with the sea.
The moving cone-shaped pontoon is also similiar to a single piston reciprocating engine. This cone-shaped pontoon resembles an inverted piston set into motion by sea wave oscillations. This motion is then converted into rotation with a connecting rod and crankshaft as are all reciprocating engines. Ballast is added to the moving cone to accommodate varying wave heights, return drop, and inertial lateral movement control. The specific gravity of the material used for ballast may vary from 2.5 to 21.5 or more. The cone extension of the cone-shaped pontoon is the location designed to carry this ballast.
The mechanical requirements are determined by site-specific ocean wave data. The Significant Wave Height and the Average Wave Period are both used in calculating the necessary cone-shaped pontoon area to amass sixteen-hundred (1600) horsepower, to size the main gear diameter, and to determine the crankshaft offset. The ocean wave data included in the drawings (FIGS. 4A and 4B) would determine the following: Average significant wave height is seven (7.0) foot, the average wave period is seven and one-half (7.5) seconds, this would require a one-hundred and sixty (160) foot diameter cone-shaped pontoon, a thirty-two (32) foot diameter main gear, and a three and one-half (3.5) foot offset at the crankshaft for a seven (7.0) foot connecting rod stroke. These mechanical specifications would result in sixteen-hundred (1600) horsepower @ two-thousand (2000) revolutions per minute (RPM) at the electrical generator to produce one (1) megawatt of electricity.
Present-day gasoline and diesel engines that drive one (1) megawatt electrical generators are also related to this power plant invention.